Short Summary

Top tennis players Jimmy Connors and Arthur Ashe had mixed fortunes on Tuesday (8 June) in two important tennis tournaments being played at present.

Description

Top tennis players Jimmy Connors and Arthur Ashe had mixed fortunes on Tuesday (8 June) in two important tennis tournaments being played at present. In England, Connors beat fellow American Peter Fleming, but in Paris, Ashe lost to his former ball-boy Hungarian, Balacs Taroczy in the French international.

SYNOPSIS: Connors, seen here serving to Fleming, was competing in the Robertson Cup lawn tennis tournament, being played in Beckenham. Connors won the first set with this rally.

Connors has returned to Britain for his attempt to recapture the Wimbledon title he lost to Ashe last summer. He said he has taken six months to shed 30 pounds and get back into shape.

Fleming, who's aged 22, is making his debut as a professional. He showed exceptional skill in handling Connor's service and it was not until the 13th game that Connors managed to take a lead. And after more than an hour's play, Connors won by 8-6, 6-3.

In Paris, Ashe went down by 5-7, 2-6, 6-0, 6-4 to Taroczy in a three-hour marathon when temperatures soared into the nineties. For two sets Ashe, who has won every major title except this one, looked as though he had the match in his grasp. He was playing a coy, chopping, lobbing game.

Taroczy seemed mermerised, but once he realised he could play his own game, he began to pass Ashe at the net with cross-court backhands. He had been Ashe's ball boy in Hungary at the age of eight. On Tuesday he served with tremendous power and accuracy.